Legal Services Commission

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, when the Legal Services Commission's Land Charges Department will complete its project to cleanse the data held on its computer system. [71704]

The Commission's project to produce accurate statutory charge statements has depended upon its Land Charges Department carrying out a number of data cleansing exercises. Those exercises, and the first stage of the project, are expected to be completed by the end of August 2002. The Commission will then carry out checks to ensure that no further data cleanse is required.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what training has been given to staff of the Legal Services Commission Land Charges Department to improve the accuracy of data inputting in relation to clients. [71705]

Steps have been taken to improve the knowledge and understanding of all staff within the Commission who deal with the statutory charge. A programme of two days' training for 160 staff including those within the land charge department has taken place. The training covered the nature of the charge; the circumstances in which it arises; how its value is determined; the conditions on which the Commission can postpone its enforcement; the technicalities of how the charge is secured by registration on land; and the rules on payment of interest where enforcement is postponed by registration on the client's home.

The Legal Services Commission is in the final stages of testing the system for the production of statutory charge statements. If the testing proves successful the Commission intends to issue an initial 1,500 statements by the end of August 2002. The Commission will then review the impact before finalising a timetable for sending a statement to all the clients affected.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Legal Services Commission's computer system will be able to provide an on-screen explanation of the change to the statutory charge for use by the Commission's caseworkers. [71703]

Subject to satisfactory completion of the final stages of testing, which are currently under way, the Commission will be able to provide an on-screen explanation of the changes to the statutory charge for use by its caseworkers by the end of August 2002, in parallel with the timetable for issuing the initial 1,500 statutory charge statements as detailed in my earlier answer today (question 71701).

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Legal Services Commission's computer system will produce statements on a rolling basis, annually from the date of first registration or when required. [71702]

The Legal Services Commission intends that all clients will receive a statutory charge statement by the end of August 2003. Statements will then be issued annually on a rolling basis on the anniversary of first registration of each charge and on request. Statements are issued manually on request at present.